The Angels of Love, Life and Hope

When we are born,
God sends His angels to go and visit us.

As they stand near us, our eyelids lie closed.
When our mother holds us in her arms,
The supernatural beings sit and smile.
For they can see what will be ahead of us in our lives.
They see the adversity but they only notice the happiness and triumph.

The angels think for a moment and then
The angel of Hope says to the baby:
You will need to work hard in the many years ahead.
Your dreams will not be easily achieved,
Your goals will not be effortlessly reached.
There will be tears shed in tough times
But there will also be tears when there is joy.
Do not be afraid of achieving
And do not let fear pull you down.

On some days when you are growing up,
You will feel as though you do not want to carry on.
But these days will not last long
For darkness only appears until the light returns.
On those days you will need to work extra hard
And smile even if there is no reason to smile
For society appreciates people more when they have a happy face.

Then the angel of Life says:
Days may go as fast as the speed of light
But may also go as slow as a snail trying to reach its far away destination.
You must learn to love both these days.
The progressive ones and the rapid ones,
For the slow days are the ones on which you will grow and learn
And on fast days you will enjoy life but you will not spiritually gain anything.

Then the angel of love says:
You will inevitably fall in love,
And sometimes there will be rainbows beneath the valleys
And other times there will be storms below the clouds.
There will be times when you agree with your partner,
But also times when you will disagree.
Cherish both of these times as they both assist in the cycle of love.

You will meet people like and unlike yourself.
You will laugh with them and cry with them, too.
Time will seem to go quickly when spent with them.
These people will care for you and love you.
Always remember that the sun will rise at dawn,
That each day is a new day
And that as long as the sun wakes you up in the morning,
you must continue to have faith and hope.

And with that last thought,
The angels wave goodbye
And disappear into the thin air
And the baby opens its eyelids
Ready to begin its life long journey

----- By Benjamin Raymond

Flight in the Wild

Let your dreams flow like the wind
Let your wings take the flight of freedom
Don’t be afraid to go around the bend
Just open yourself to the world of wisdom

Though you may drift miles
But you must not be scared
Cause freedom brings in smiles
And beauty of life lies in the flight in the wild

- Vinny 07.04.07

Will the Mohan in You save another Tenzin????

One of very close friends of mine has just met with a real bad road accident ... He scared the life out of anyone and everyone who saw him... Luckily there is no threat to his life now... Though there is still a long long road for him to recovery ... I will be there with him anytime and every time he requires me ... and so we will be many of our friends...

I have mixed thoughts in my head right now ... On one hand I keep on asking why did this happen to him or for that matter to anyone ??? .. and on other I can't stop thanking God that he is still with us...

My friend's name is Tenzin Thargay .. One gem of a chap.... a poet at heart and a thinker to the core... friend of friends and a born optimist ....

None of us know what happened at that ill fated moment...All we have understood is that .. it was a hit and run case... he was driving his bullet ... and he was hit by a taxi ... the taxi got away ... we are not sure about the time .. he was lying in the middle of the road ... all covered in blood and unconscious ... he was surrounded by the typical Mumbai crowd... all over him ... all around him... eyes would have been all over him... And yes.. like a typical Mumbai crowd.... thats all they did .... no body wasn't even thinking on the lines of rushing him to a hospital and saving a life...I am sure they would all have been playing GOD by saying that he would surely die .. But none of them would ave tried to be what they really should have been- A HUMAN ... A human being there for a fellow human

Sadly... this image .. as I can visualize... has hit me straight in the face ... as an individual ... and as a human .. I have never been a part of such a crowd... standing there and watching a person die ... but yes... I have seen many a similar accident in my life time .. but I didn't even bother to stop and pick them up ... I was too engrossed in my thoughts to come forward and save some body's life... I am guilty of not respecting life.. But now I am prepared to respect life.. never again will I shy away from my responsibility..

And this realization is all due to one gentleman ... a God's man .. who respected life.. This Living example of hope in our lives, Mohan to us, saw our friend lying on the road ... and he did not shy away ... he took this total stranger to the hospital .. and called me up . .. and my friends boss.. thanks to Mohan .. we could take speedy action and save our friends life... Before I reached .. another friend of mine had reached there.. . and Mohan had left .... I couldnt even thank him in person ... I guess this is my way of saying thanks to him and many more Mohans who are out there.. And I feel that if only we can all learn .. and not always the hard way ... but by just looking at other Mohan and realizing that we got to bring out the Mohan inside of us...

I know there are a million problems attached with it ... cops and medical staff acting as irritants .. but still .. one act by you could save some body's life... today it is my friend, tomorrow it could be me .. or YOU .. or YOUR Father, Mother, Brother, Sister, Daughter, Son, Grandchild.. Anyone of us can be where Tenzin is today ... that is something not in our hands .. but probably in hands of our fate .. .But to take Mohan's place is in our hands.. This is one thing not decided by our fate .. But by choosing to be Mohan we Control Fate ...

I just hope that we find the courage in ourselves to become Mohan.....

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tenzin has a Hairline Fracture on his skull.. His forehead was smashed into his skull .... and his forehead has no skin ... and his face has so many cuts ... that a long and painful plastic surgery is the only way out for him ..... His Left leg is smashed in two pieces.... He is still in the ICU and in a semi conscious state...

Tenzin's blood over me and all inside the ambulance still shakes me and makes me imagine that if Mohan hadn't done what he had ... then a life so full of vigor, energy, potential and optimism would have ended right there on the road...

All his loved ones and us his friends will be with him on every step of his recovery ... I request you to say a silent prayer for his fast and complete recovery ... And for all of us also to find the strength to find the Mohan in us.

God Bless.

The Key to Become a Billionaire in India

The billionaire list for 2007 is out. No exceptions and no surprises for the top 2 positions. Bill Gates ($56 billion) held on to his top slot and Warren Buffet ($52 billion) retained his place next to Gates. Overall, US continues to dominate the list with not less than 415 billionaires. This all is pretty regular.

But, what’s different this year is the India has displaced Japan as the country with the Asian country with the maximum number of billionaires (36 to be precise). All the Indians put together had a net worth of $191 billion. That is $3.6 billion each.

The Indian Battalion is led by Mukesh Ambani (#14, $20.1 billion) closely followed by Anil Ambani (#18, $18.2 billion) and Lakshmi Mittal (#5, $32 billion) takes the bronze pot.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok.. this is a list that comes out every year. This is a list, which for people, other than those who actually feature on the list, is nothing more than a casual chit chat over lunch, fag, tea or coffee. Obviously, no matter how much I would like to be otherwise, I fall under the second category. And any dreams of making to this list are easily swept aside by just one look at my bank balance, my pay slips and my genealogy.

So, like a typical person of my category, my first reaction on reading this list was one of AWE: “Man these people are RICH”.

This was followed by JEALOUSY: “BUGGERS!!!”.

Third reaction was HOPE: “How can I make one of these guys adopt me?”.

Infact, the third reaction held on to me for some time. So much So that I had even started scribbling down a “Adoption Sales Pitch”, to one of these billionaires, in my head. Probably, since I have a wife and a kid, I could use “3 for the cost of 1” tag line to make my sales pitch look more attractive.

But, soon after being given dagger sharp looks by wife on discussing this adoption idea with her, I dropped the idea.

You can say I have a bug in me. It’s a bug which doesn’t let go of thoughts so easily. (The fact that I am working for one of the Billionaires on the list didn’t help either). Hence, in the evening, while my son was busy watching shin chan and wife was busy running after him to feed him dinner, I started thinking about the list again. But this time I thought of it from a more strategic point of view. I used the basics to analyze the situation.

My objective: To figure out what makes these people so rich.

My Tools: very basic - What, When, Why, Where, and How.

After running through the histories of these people I realized that, unlike what I would have wanted to believe, not all their wealth can be accounted to their Genealogy. Ok, few of them did inherit legacies but the inheritance only gave them a good base to stand on. And, they have made it to this elite list purely on what they have done post inheritance.

Another, interesting thing I realized that the actions of these extraordinary gentlemen is purely driven by the state of their national economies. For e.g. Bill Gates, Warren Buffe – they are part of Developed economies. Mukesh Ambani, Anil Ambani, Lakshmi Mittal, Ruia’s, Godrej etc are part of developing economies.

If one looks closely one can see that in the developed economies the people who are in the list are entrepreneurs and are linked with the new business economy drivers like internet, financial markets etc. Whereas in the developing economies like India &, Mexico the one’s who are on the list are old economy men. By old economy here I mean these people control natural wealth components which have supply constraints. Other explanation is people who are not into technology (search engine type) related businesses.

In Mexico, Carlos Slim Helu has his roots in telecom. In India, Mukesh Ambani has Oil & Gas, Anil Ambani has Coal, energy business, telecom, Tata’s have steel, telecom, energy business among many other natural resources, Ruia’s have oil rigs & Telecom, Godrej has real estate, Mittal is the steel baron. Azim Premji is the only one who doesn’t fit this bill.

What does this indicate? No matter how much the new generation businesses may have grown and India may be on the way to become the global outsourcing or IT hub these business have still not broken into the big league. A basic google search will show you that many of the biggest software biggies in India are still much much smaller than the old economy guys.

Thus, the way I see it, if you want to be big in India, forget software look for minerals. I don’t know whether I can reach the billionaire list. But, since I feel I have unlocked the key to become rich in India I am off to my local coal trader and am gonna make a separate room in my house just to stock coal and other mineral resources. You never know, these small chunks of coal bought by me from here on may be bought by these billionaires in future for billions of dollars. (Hoping ofcourse, that my wife doesn’t shoot down this idea also).

Bamboo, Fern and my Batch Mates

I came across this story while I was cleaning up my cabin. This was on a piece of paper left by one of my colleagues who had resigned and left the cabin nearly a year back. This story got my attention immediately. And made me think and forced me to write. But first here is the story
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One day I decided to Quit…I quit my job, my relationships, my spirituality…I wanted to quit my life.

I went to the woods to have one last talk with God.

“God” I said, “Can you give me one good reason not to Quit?”
His answer surprised me …“Look around”, He said. “ Do you see the fern and the bamboo?”
“Yes” I replied.
“When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds. I took very good care of them.
I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo. In the second year the fern grew more vibrant and plentiful. And again, nothing came from the Bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.” He said.

“In year three there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit. In year four again, there was nothing from the Bamboo seed. I would not quit.” He said.

“ Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared to the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant.. But just 6 months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall. It had spent the five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what needed to survive. I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle. “

He said to me. “Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots”

“I would not quit on the bamboo. I will never quit on you”
“Don’t compare yourself to others.” He said. “The bamboo had a different purpose than the fern. Yet they both make the forest beautiful”

“Your time will come”, God Said to me. “You will rise high”

“How high should I rise?” I asked.

“How high will the bamboo rise?” He asked in return.

“As high as it can ?” I questioned.

“Yes”. He said “Give me glory by rising as high as you can.”

I came back from the forest having realized that God will never give up on you.

Moral of the Story - Never, Give up.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This story could mean a million things to million people. For me also this is relevant from many angles. The portion that really caught me was where God says “ Don’t compare yourself with others. The bamboo had a different purpose…..“ the other part of the story that hit me in the face was “I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle.”

Often, when I meet my batch mates, peers etc and after the initial euphoria and the nostalgia subsides, I have seen the discussion move on to doing a comparative. The comparison always seems to have very strong materialistic undertones. These comparatives range from being downright idiotic to hilarious. Few examples I have faced till now are -
“ hey, man what is your designation?”
“What is your CTC?”
“Have you bought a House?”
“Have you bought a car?”
“Nice cell phone”
“Oh, you are on V25 .. I prefer only Lonovo”
“ How often do you travel abroad?”
“Oh. I travel only business class or only Kingfisher”
“ I prefer consulting better than being in the industry” (This is the most hollow one – I feel)
And blah blah blah …

This is just a small sample of various other permutations and combinations. Many a times your replies make the other person feel let down by himself and many times he feels he is a superior being. Am not saying that I have not been a culprit. But, I have made a conscious choice to grow over these comparisons. And, this is where this story connected to me. It connected deep.

Guys, when we will realize that one’s purpose of being might be to be a fern. But, that doesn’t mean that if you are a fern and other is not then your purpose of being is more relevant than the other persons. Being a fern is obviously a reason for delight but then being a bamboo is equally delightful.

I might be faster in the blocks as compared to many .. but then I might be slower as compared to many more. But then it is for us to understand that being faster on the blocks is not the sole purpose of being. Its is important to understand that how successful you are in fulfilling the objectives that you had set for yourself in life.

Imagine when you are ninety you will not be looking back and saying that man I am satisfied in life cause I was the first guy in my batch to buy a merc. But you will definitely be looking back and saying that man I am satisfied with my life cause I have been able to fulfill all that I ever set for myself. You will be satisfied because you were competing with yourself and not competing with others. (If your only aim in life is to be the first one to buy a merc.. then I take back my words.. may be you will be the satisfied one !!! )

I agree that not everyone thinks similar. Some might have already realized the purpose of their being and some might be in the process of discovering theirs. But realizing one's own purpose of life is not the end. It is the start. Also, my purpose of life and your purpose of life go hand in hand. If you have realized that you are a fern it is equally important that you respect bamboo also otherwise .. well.. spring is followed by fall.

Don’t have much to say beyond this other than repeating the fact that it is really important to figure out your purpose of being and also respecting the purpose of being of others.

Last words: “Show me a person who is moving slower than me or you .. and I will show you a million who are faster than me or you”